Virginia Martinez is a significant figure in the Chicana feminist movement, a Chicago-native Latina attorney, and an advocate for women and children. Martinez was changing the world from an early age. She went against her family and society’s standards when she applied to law school and became one of the first Latinas to be licensed to practice law in Illinois. When she was in law school, she was one of the founders of the Latino Law Student Association.

Maria D. Jimenez Flores was born in Coahuila, Mexico. Her parents, Raul Gomez Jimenez and Elva Flores, decided to immigrate to the United States when Maria was about six years old. Her paternal grandfather, Jaime Jimenez, was the first of her family to migrate to the United States. Maria and her family immigrated into Houston, Texas on May 9, 1957. Maria began to understand social inequality from a young age. With the influence of her maternal grandfather, Ramon Flores Ortega, and her father’s involvement in activism and social movements, Maria became interested in social justice.

From her beginnings as a girl who only spoke Spanish in east El Paso, Texas to becoming one of the most influential members of the Las Hermanas organization, Sister Yolanda Tarango is a proud Chicana feminist. She is the oldest of 7 children and started school in an “Anglo” Catholic school where she learned to speak English, but also experienced her first wave of institutionalized racism.